


All Magic Comes With A Price

by thivilt



Category: City of Love: Paris (Visual Novel)
Genre: M/M, Reader is a bookbinder, Vincent hired him, didn't know he would fall for him, plays durig season one, thought it was a good idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-04-23 09:53:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14329908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thivilt/pseuds/thivilt
Summary: Vincent hires you so you can get the letters of Pierre and Héloïse for him.





	1. One: the first time you met the drama queen

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfiction I've written in English. Please tell me if I make mistakes.  
> Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it.

You were on your way home, when you first got the call.

You didn't answer it. You usually don't answer calls from unknown numbers. And you really weren’t in the mood to talk to some stranger who probably typed the wrong number.

Your day has been long and stressful. All you longed for was your bed and an episode of that series you recently watched. Not to answer a call for a girl named Clarisse just to explain that you were neither Clarisse nor a girl and that that fool must have got the wrong number.

But actually, that would be hell of a business idea you got there. A number one could give people one would not like to get to know further while drinking a coffee. And then you would quite politely explain that person that they got dumped. Wouldn't that be a nice job? Tell people they're unloved.

~*~

The second time the ringtone woke you. You had read that book your friend had recommended you till the middle of the night and fell asleep on top of it. Being drowsy from your lack of sleep you hit the wrong button on your phone and hang up on that anonymous call.

~*~

The third time you sat in a never ending meeting. It wasn't a call but a message. Schoolboy-like you tried to look at your phone without raising attention.

_ I have an offer you won't be able to resist. _

_ A black car is waiting for you outside. _

_ V.K _ .

The message piqued your interest, but nonetheless, it was what people with quite the right amount of common sense would call alarming.

You answered.

_ A black car is waiting outside? What is this? _

_ Some old-fashioned spy movie? _

 

It didn't take long till a response came.

_ You will never know unless you get in that car and meet me. _

You rang with yourself for the rest of the meeting. It was intriguing. You liked the sense of adventure in it. But, it would be a completely foolish thing to do. Getting in an unknown car, meeting a total stranger who got your number out of nowhere with a mysterious offer to make.

You had to be insane, totally mental, as you got into the car. Actually it was that kind of classic black car every good spy movie had. Kind of a limousine. You didn't had any further knowledge about cars. You googled it on your way. The driver didn't talk to you so what else should you do?

You learned that quite every car that wasn't a cabriolet was a limousine. You always thought only the fancy cars were called that. You really should work for the MythBusters.

~*~

The car came to a hold in front of a seemingly normal house. More high end but in this Parisian style of architecture. Unnoticeable in between all those other townhouses. Maybe you were a little disappointed. At least until you got to see the inside.

Whomever this house belonged to, they had style. Old, dark wooden furniture. All kinds and expressions of art. The right balance of stylish and eccentric. You loved it.

It all came together in a dark bureau. The ornate fireplace sending out warm light. A prominent desk with a massive leather armchair occupying most of the space. The walls full of artwork, while a great bookshelf covered nearly one whole side.

As you were alone in there and told to wait, you inspected the books. You found quite a variety. Clearly antiquarian books beside new editions. Classics and modern bestsellers. Novels and scientific periodicals.

 

You heard the door open just as you flipped through a copy of "Grimm's Fairy Tales". You looked over your shoulder to see a dark figure standing in the door.

"You have a very impressive collection." While you spoke you carefully closed the book and put it back on the shelf. Then you turned around to see your mysterious stranger.

The figure had stepped into the room. It was a tall man in a dark suit. Hair and suit in a strong contrast to his pale looking face. He stood with his arms behind his back. A relaxed posture of a powerful man. You could read in his face, that he was proud of it.

"Thank you, Mr. y/l/n. I'm delighted to hear that from a man of your profession." His voice was deep.

You took a few step in his direction. "I hope I'm not just here to compliment your taste in books, Mr.-" You paused, waiting for his name, raising an eyebrow in anticipation.

"Vincent. Vincent Karm." He reached out his hand. You took it. His handshake was firm. You looked him in the eyes. They were of a vibrant green. Intense. Piercing.

You looked away as soon as the handshake ended, gazing through the room. Trying to think of why you were here. Trying to avoid further eye contact. Countenance, you called at yourself.

"So, Mr. Karm. Why-"

"Call me Vincent."

You turned your head to him as he interrupted you. You stood still for a moment. Probably a dazed impression on your face till your brain began to work again. A teasing smirk appeared on your face.

"You sure like to hear your name, don't you, Vincent?"

He must have got closer to you or you didn't noticed till now, how close you two were. He leaned in a bit.

"Even more if it's from the mouth of a talented young man.", he said in a low voice. You were caught in his gaze again. You took in his clear-cut face, a smile playing around his mouth.

Maybe your breath deepened. Maybe that's why all of a sudden you could smell his aftershave.

You backed away. "Mr.-- Vincent, why am I here?"

He straightened his figure and adjusted his tie.

"I have an offer to make."

"Yeah, you already texted me that one. What kind of offer?"

Slowly you wanted to get to the bottom of all this. It wasn't fear you felt but a kind of distress to be in the same room with a man like Karm.

 

"A job. I need your expertise.", he said.

"If this is just about a commission you could have send an email to my office. No need to enact any of this." Probably he was just a drama queen. You were pissed. This was a waste of time.

"It's not a normal commission, Mr. y/l/n. It's a more delicate job I offer you."

"You know, you have quite a reputation.", you said. It seemed you had piqued his curiosity about what you heard about him.

"I know of your deals. The fulfilling of a dream after one finishes a little job for you. You're like ... Rumpelstiltskin." He flinched at that one for a second. "'All magic comes with a price.' So, of course I'm asking myself what's in it for me."

Now he seemed a little taken aback.

"You don't even know what I want from you."

You liked that look of surprise in his eyes.

"Actually I'm only interested in what you think my big dream would be.", you said shrugging.

He chuckled. After a moment he got serious again.

"If you work with me your shop will get a promotion. I want you to get me the letters of Pierre and Héloïse."

A promotion from Vincent Karm sounded like something what could boost your business. He was a well known and influential man.

"And if I don't work with you? Will you shut down my shop?" Did you have an option or was there no other way out than to oblige?

"I may be a businessman, but I'm fair, not cruel." It sounded like the truth. Why did you trust a man like him? All you knew of him spoke against that.

"Okay. I know Raphael Laurent bought them at the auction. How do you think I can get a hold on them?"

"You're an expert in the restoration of books. It wouldn't be unusual for you to ask him about them." It was unusual. Did he even thought that through?

"So you think I just call him? A little chit-chat, maybe a coffee or two and he will let me see these letters? I really hope you didn't plan a date for him and me."

"That's something I wouldn't wish my worst enemy."

"Which I heard was him?"

"You forget why you're here"

"Right. 'cause you can't write an email."


	2. Two: why not ask for more work?

You arrived at the "City of Love" office on time. You didn't want to destroy all your chances by being too late.

As you walked in a fashionable woman with dark hair got up to you. She looked you up and down. "You must be Mr. Y/l/n. Mr. Laurent will be here in a few minutes. If you may wait here." She pointed you to a seating group. You sat down.

"Do you want to drink something? Coffee, tea, water?" Her voice was melodic.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm fine." you said and thought of something else you could say. Ask, if Mr. Laurent was late often. Ask what kind of man awaited you. Or more so what kind of man you waited for now. She had left for her desk before you had the opportunity to ask any questions.

You looked around. An open office, big windows, the sun beaming through them. Busy people on tidy desks.

Raphael Laurent came. He looked far less like a manager of such a big magazine than you had imagined him. He wore some chinos and a casual fitting dressing shirt.

"Mr. y/l/n. It's nice meeting you." He greeted you with a smile and shook your hand enthusiastically.

"May you come into my office, so we can speak in private?"

You followed him. His office could have been described as a productive mess. His desk was full of papers. So was the floor. One wall covered in posters. Another one covered in a shelf crowded with books. Fashion illustrations everywhere. "Take a Seat", he offered you the chair in front of his desk while sitting on the other side. "I will be upfront with you. Your interest in the letters was quite surprising. And raised suspicion."

"I hope you don't think someone may have bribed me to spy on you and gather information about the letters." You tried to say that in quite the right tone of amusement and unlikeliness and laughed a little about it. You hoped you didn't sweat or something. But you figured it would be a fun thing to say. And making him think you thought it was a funny thought to think, would make him think how absurd it was.

There was a little pause.

A little tense silence, probably only parts of seconds, before he laughed about it. "Yeah, what a funny idea."

O almighty god. Or any other entity that looked upon you. That was far too close.

After some time, he believed your story.

Then he showed you the letters. They were far more interesting than you thought. Even though he obviously only gave you parts of it.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Laurent asked after you read the letters.

He didn't give you any time to answer.

"You read the part about the essence of love? I believe it is real. And it's hidden here. Somewhere in Paris."

~*~

It was late and already dark outside. You were still in your shop. Working on a book one of the local libraries wanted to get restored.

Your two employees had left maybe two hours ago. They seemed to have forgotten to close the door or didn't turn the key properly, as you heard the ringing of the doorbell.

"Sorry, we're closed!", you said as you got to the front of the shop to get the people away.

"Oh, it's you." You stopped in the doorway.

"You don't seem too glad to see me." Vincent Karm was standing in the middle of your shop. Holding a book in his hand. One of your favourite showpieces. A leather-bound copy of Alice in Wonderland. He flicked through it, stopped at some of the illustrations and put it back.

"Why did you come here? You could easily have called." You motioned him to follow you as you went in the back of the shop.

"I did. You didn't pick up. As usual." He had followed you. You walked to the coffee machine while he took a seat on the couch in the corner.

"Oh. Yeah, right. I had had a meeting with a customer. Some people in this city have to work to pay their rent. But I emailed you the pictures I was able to take. - Coffee?", you asked holding a mug in one hand and the coffee pot in the other.

"That would be nice." He smiled a polite smile before returning to business. "I have seen the pictures. They're not-"

"Not complete? I know. - Milk?"

"No thank you."

You continued. "Laurent was really suspicious about my interest. And it wasn't easy to convince him that it was necessary for me to take a picture." You handed him a mug while drinking from yours and sitting down in front of him.

"Do you know, how hard it was to convince him to even show me the letters? I had to tell some story about a scientific research I did in university to explain my personal interest in them."

"He believed you?"

"Of course he did." You paused a moment to think of how much you were willing to let him know about yourself. "Also, it's kind of the truth. _I_ never did but a friend of mine wrote her thesis about medieval letters. And she told me quite a lot about it. Probably she would be really excited to see these letters." You laughed at the thought of her seeing them.

Vincent interrupted with a frown on his face. "The whole thing is confidential. No one beside you and me will see these letters or hear of our arrangement."

"Of course not."

You thought for a moment. "There's more. Laurent told about an essence of love. It's mentioned on page 3, I wasn't able to get a picture of it yet. He believes it's more than a metaphor. He believes it exists and is hidden somewhere in Paris."

You paused, waiting for a reaction.

Vincent didn't say anything. He just looked at you with a gaze you couldn't read. It seemed hard and expressionless.

“I think that's what this is about. Why you want these letters.” Karm probably didn't know, what the letters where about, when he hired you. You figured, he only knew there would be some kind of secret. Or he just did it to get in Laurent's way.

“He asked me to help him search for it. I'll do it. The only question is, if I will tell you of it.” After your meeting with Laurent you thought a lot about it. Your job was to tell Karm about the letters. For that he would somehow promote your shop. But if he wanted you to find this essence for him, that would be a new arrangement. And you knew exactly what his part in this would be.

“So, what do you want?”, he asked.

“You know, the local libraries have a lot of books that need to get restored. But they don't have money for that. And I don't have money for that either.” You drank from your coffee and waited for his response.

To your surprise he smiled.

“That will be a lot of books for you to work on. Especially with the one I need you to bind.”

“What do you mean?”, you asked.

“For my part of our arrangement, promoting your shop, I need you to bind a book.” He said that as if it was the only logical thing to do. “It’s not my style to go around and tell people how good a service is. I give you the chance to prove that by yourself.” You thought about it. It was the only logical thing to to.

After some time he left you with a lot of money on your bank account, a pdf with the manuscript and a deadline that was kinda close but not impossible to make. You would just need to prioritize it a bit.

While cleaning up you looked at the clock and decided to let work be for today. The book you worked on today could be finished tomorrow.

You went home. Of course you weren’t able to sleep right away. There were too many thoughts in your head. Your last week was surprisingly different. And all the things that awaited you. A treasure hidden in Paris. Letters telling where to find it. A mystery to uncover. Two rich men who want it. Stuff for a good story. But would it make for a good story for you to fit in your life? And how far would they go? Laurent made the impression of an idealist. But you knew that idealism could easily become fanaticism if not met with the right amount of level-headedness. Karm on the other hand had his reputation of a cold businessman. He surely wouldn't stop the search if something came in his way.

And then the books. First the one you had to make for Karm. You need to read it fast. Get an impression of it and design a good cover. Get it printed. Order the stuff you need and bind it. All the while knowing that its outcome would determine your success.

Gladly, after that was over you could restore the old library books. While imagining how you told the library director that you could do it for free, you finally fell asleep.


End file.
